World leaders aren’t doing enough to address pollution at its source, leaving nearly 9 million people each year to die from its effects.
That’s the message delivered on Tuesday by public health experts from the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, a high-profile panel of scientific experts. In a new progress update, they report that death and disease rates from pollution are as high as they’ve ever been, causing 1 in 6 deaths worldwide and disproportionately affecting people in the developing world, also sometimes known as the Global South.
“There’s not a whole lot being done about it,” said Rachael Kupka, executive director of the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution and one of the report’s coauthors. She called for coordinated action from world governments and international agencies to mitigate pollution while also addressing other threats such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
The progress update builds on previous data compiled by the Lancet commission, which showed that pollution was responsible for 9 million deaths in 2015. Now, the researchers say that number has remained virtually unchanged. Despite a decrease in deaths from... Read more
